


A Masterpiece of Meticulous Exactitude

by jesterlady



Category: Smallville
Genre: Acting, Crack, F/M, Humor, Male Bonding, Male Friendship, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-06
Updated: 2011-10-06
Packaged: 2017-10-24 08:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesterlady/pseuds/jesterlady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver, Clark, and Lex cook up an idea for the whole team to participate in.  If only things would go right for once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville. The title is from a Deep Space Nine Episode.  
> A/N: This is crack, okay? It takes place in a future AU where everything's exactly the way I want it. So, just saying that I realize that everything's exaggerated and timelines aren't matching and people are behaving oddly. It's supposed to be that way. I got the idea for this fic when in Wither, Lionel said Oliver was really good at the school plays at Excelsior. I wanted to write a fic where Lex wasn't evil and he and Oliver were friends. I know it's canon and destiny, but Lex used to be my favorite character until Ollie came around and I'm just sick of everyone hating him. Also, while I'm usually the first in line to throw kyryptonite when Clark is being sanctimonious and idiotic, I've been reading too much fic lately where it's too over the top. He's not that bad. Anyway, they're all friends and all my pairings are together and the team and that makes me happy.

Oliver sighed and drummed his fingers on the table, bored out of his mind. Lex had better have a good reason for being this late. Oliver had rushed through his board meeting and hung up early on a call with his wife to make this lunch on time. Lex should have done the same, but Oliver knew his friend had never learned the same niceties the rest of the world revolved around.

“I hope I haven't kept you waiting,” Lex said smoothly as he finally dropped into his place opposite Oliver.

“That's exactly what you hoped, Lex,” Oliver said, rolling his eyes. 

“Is that right?” Lex raised an almost non-existent eyebrow.

“Yes, that's right. Don't worry, I'm over it, so you can save whatever example of historical patience you were planning on dredging out of the dust of time and decide what to order because I'm starving.” Lex chuckled slightly before perusing the menu, making a show of taking his time. Oliver resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. “So, how's it going getting reintegrated back into LuthorCorp? Tess giving you a hard time?”

“My little sister adores giving me a hard time,” Lex said, looking up from his menu. “I think she figures it's her due for having been practically disinherited most of her life.”

“You can't lie to me, Lex, you like it when she messes with you. You two are practically adult sized children trying for a second childhood.”

“We did miss the first one,” Lex pointed out.

“Fine,” Oliver conceded. “So, why were you late today?”

Lex winced. 

“I'm afraid not everyone was as happy as you and Tess to see me back. Some of the board members were having collective fits and starting fires that I had to see to. My apologies for being late.”

“Apologize to my stomach,” Oliver said good-naturedly. He understood how hard it was to come back from the dead and try to take charge of a Fortune 500 company. “I can relate to that.”

“My apologies,” Lex said, quite seriously, in the direction of Oliver's midriff. “Yes, I imagine you can.”

“We should do something to get your mind off it. A little side project to help you feel the world isn't really out to get you.”

“I hate to break it to you, Oliver, but the world really is out to get me. Not to mention the fact that you have quite a few responsibilities yourself and don't really have the time to do anything else.”

“That's no problem! What are these responsibilities you speak of? I can't think of anything.” Oliver made sure his tone was as dry as paper. 

“Running Queen Industries? Patrolling the streets of Metropolis at night dressed in restricting green tig-leather? Leading the Justice League? Being married to Chloe? I'm sure some of this must be ringing a bell.”

Oliver shook his head. 

“Fine, something all of us could do together. You and Lana, me and Chloe, Clark and Lois, the team. It'll be like a team-building exercise. Most of us are too good at being loners.”

“That's the understatement of the century,” Lex replied.

“Do you think they'll put it in the record books?”

Lex was saved from having to answer by the waiter coming to take their orders. After he had gone, Oliver leaned his elbows on the table and eyed his friend.

“Come on, Lex, let's have an adventure.”

Lex sighed and took a sip of his water, but Oliver knew he'd won. Lex had never been able to say no to him, not at school, not in business.

“The legendary Queen charm can chalk one more up for the win column,” Lex said finally and Oliver grinned.

“Queen 15, Luthor 12.”

“You're forgetting about Paraguay.”

“Fine, Paraguay's yours. But I was leaving off Scotland, just to be fair.”

Lex grimaced but raised his glass in silent concession.

“So, what is this wild adventure that's supposed to take my mind off all my problems?”

“I'll think of something,” Oliver said, waving such tedious concerns aside. “In the meantime, tell me how Bruce was when you saw him.”

“The cocky idiot wasn't at his best, half falling over some blonde in the back of his limo.”

“It's the cost of being a billionaire vigilante,” Oliver said.

“We got wives,” Lex said, “he could as well.”

“Our wives fell into our laps,” Oliver said. “We were the luckiest idiots alive.”

“I'll only agree with you because it's Chloe and Lana,” Lex said.

“Queen 16-”

“That wasn't a win, Queen.”

“Fine, Luthor, we'll just call that us being on equal terms.”

“About the only time we are,” Lex said cockily. 

“I wonder which way you've got that inequality in your head.” Oliver smirked in return.

“Probably opposite to the way you have it.”

“Probably. But back to Bruce, I wish I could have gone. It would have been like the old Excelsior days.”

“Days I'm not so anxious to repeat.”

“Okay, so we weren't the currently charming fellows we are now, but we grew on you.”

“Slightly,” Lex acknowledged.

“And you were a bit of a-”

“If we're going to reminisce about old times, be prepared to get as good as you give, Oliver.”

Suddenly Oliver didn't feel like talking about certain subjects anymore.

“I'm talking about the good times, Lex. Like senior year when we played football on Thanksgiving or the car wash or the night before prom.”

“Those are the times I'm willing to discuss.” Lex grinned happily. 

“Oh, the best one,” Oliver said, “the play.”

“That was the best night of my life up until recently,” Lex said. “I even considered acting as a career to piss off my dad.”

“I almost wish you had, but I doubt we'd be sitting here today if that was the case.”

“You just want to be the big man on campus.”

“There is no campus anymore, Lex, we graduated and got old.”

“So that's why you work out for two hours every day and patrol all night when you're not ravishing Chloe like a horny teenager?”

“That's my wife you're talking about,” Oliver chided mildly.

“I was sort of at the wedding,” Lex reminded him.

“That's replaced the play as my best night,” Oliver said, his mind drifting back. 

“Focus, Queen,” Lex said, snapping his fingers as their food was brought out to them. “I have to be back at the office in half an hour or I might not be able to afford eating here anymore.”

“I'll give you a food allowance,” Oliver said, loading his fork with steak.

“Thanks, Dad,” Lex muttered. 

“We should dig out that tape,” Oliver said, “and show it to the girls.”

“That's a good idea. Maybe that can be our grand adventure.”

“That's hardly an adventure; no, it would be just the prelude.”

Then Oliver got the best idea he'd ever had.

“I know that look; don't tell me, I don't want to know,” Lex said, putting his fork down in dismay.

“Oh, Lex, this is going to make your year, your decade.”

“I'm sure it's going to make something.”

“We're going to put on the play.”

“Come again?” Lex blinked.

“We are going to dust off our scripts, pull out the rusty over-acting skills, and put on the play.”

“That's your idea of an adventure?”

“And the team can be the extra bits, oh, it's perfect.”

Lex started to object again.

“Oliver, we don't have time for this.”

“We'll make the time. We're superheroes, Lex. Besides, it's been really quiet on the evil front lately. The girls are chomping at the bit for quality time, you need a distraction from all your issues, and we can practice everything at the same time.”

Oliver could see Lex being drawn in despite himself. His friend tried so very hard to put on a stoic front at all times, but Oliver knew how nerdy Lex really was deep inside and how much he liked to do stuff like this.

Lex began to grin and Oliver knew he'd won again.

Queen 18, Luthor 13. Scotland totally counted.

***

Clark stared at his two best friends like they were out of their minds. As far as he was concerned, they were. 

“You want to do what?”

“No, Clark,” Oliver said, “your hearing has not gone the way of disappeared powers. We are going to put on a play!”

Clark turned desperately to Lex.

“And you approve? Come on, you're the one who's supposed to stop him when he gets like this.”

Lex got the slightly manic grin on his face that he only wore when Oliver had coerced him into something.

“I had my doubts, Clark. But I have to say, I think it will be a great morale builder for the team. The girls will love it and Oliver and I had so much fun doing the last one.”

“You were teenagers with trust funds and nothing else to do! You have responsibilities now.”

“It's true, what they’re saying,” Oliver said, turning to Lex.

“I fear so,” he answered sorrowfully.

“What's true?” Clark asked, folding his arms across his chest, feeling like he was about to get blindsided.

“That Superman's in a bit of a rut.” Oliver's face would match wounded puppies. 

“Wearing himself thin.” Lex's wasn't much better.

“Putting the safety of the world at risk with too much stress.”

“Not able to get past his alien side and enjoy life.”

“Going to crack under the pressure.”

“Having troubles at home.”

Clark cut in before the duo went any further.

“I get the picture. Did Lois complain to either of you? Or to your wives?”

Oliver and Lex looked at each other innocently.

Clark sighed, knowing he was being played, but unable to resist the temptation his friends presented him with.

“I give up. Let's put on a stupid play.”

Oliver and Lex grinned and patted him on the back.

“That's the way,” Oliver said. “Now you'll be a happy alien and stop bringing everyone down.”

“Now I'm more likely to be a broody alien since I'm being strong-armed into things I don't really want to do.”

“Strong-armed?” scoffed Lex. “This from the Man of Steel?”

“Oh, my friend,” Oliver said, “you won't feel that way when we're doing it. There's no business like show business, after all.”

Lex was obviously trying to fight laughing and Clark simply rolled his eyes.

“So, now what?”

“Now we call an emergency team meeting and let everyone know!” Oliver clapped his hands together and rushed over to the computers. 

Clark rushed after him, panicking. 

“Uh, that might be a little too much. Emergency? It's not, right? Oliver?”

Oliver ignored him and Clark put his hand over his eyes.

***

“I think they finally cracked and landed in Nutville,” Lois said, hands on hips as she surveyed her fiancée and his two billionaire friends. 

Lex could practically see her cataloguing their eccentricities and filing it away for a future story.

“Now, Lois, let's not jump to conclusions,” Chloe said slowly. “We've all pulled some wacky hijinks over the years. Maybe they're meteor infected...with play obsession.”

“Clark wouldn't be,” Lex pointed out, ignoring the fact that it was a ridiculous suggestion to begin with and Chloe had to know it.

“Still, I'm scanning you all, just to be sure,” she said briskly and walked over to her precious monitors which Lex really wished she wouldn't do because he was feeling stupid enough as it was; he didn't need to be poked and prodded, checking to see if the meteors had finally caused him to flip the big one.

“Chloe, we're all fine,” Oliver said, walking over and running his hands up and down her arms. “Lex and I got to talking about our school days and we're just reminiscing...tangibly. We want you all to be a part of it. Even Clark's excited!”

“You, Clark, and Lex would be excited if you decided to start standing on your heads,” Lois said sharply. 

“I'm out of here,” Dinah said, heading for the door. “I didn't fly halfway across the country for an emergency rehearsal.”

“Come on, Dinah,” Oliver said, pleading in his voice, “we should all do it together. It won't be any fun without everyone.”

“Where's his wife?” Tess asked suddenly, from her position by the doors, as if ready to run. “I notice one of our billionaires is missing his other half. Why isn't she here?” 

Everybody looked to Lex and he suddenly wished he was an only child.

“Well, uh, I told her and she hopped a plane to Europe. She said she'd be back when I'd gotten it all out of my system.” He smiled somewhat sheepishly at them all.

“How come Lana gets to run?” Dinah queried.

“Come on, guys. Lana's not really a part of the team anyway,” Oliver said.

“It's true,” Lex admitted. “Even she'll tell you that.”

“Clark,” Chloe said suspiciously, “you've been awfully mum on the play proposal. What are your thoughts?”

“I, uh, I think it would be...fun.”

“Oh, give it a rest, Smallville,” Lois protested. “You’re just riding the billionaire fun express like the rest of us.”

“I do think it would be fun,” Clark said, drawing close to her. “I was...incredulous at first, but I think we should do it. Spend some time together.”

“Real time?” she asked. “Time where you don't go running off every other second to the other side of the world?”

“I promise,” he said.

Lois smiled up at him and Lex knew that at least half the battle was won. Lois would bully everyone into doing it if she saw something in it for her. Even without her, Oliver could get the team to do anything if only one person agreed with him. A small, blonde someone who was currently looking unhappy.

“Well, I think a play's the best idea our big man leader's ever had,” Bart cut in.

AC and Dinah each made moves for him, but he was already on the other side of the room at the top of the stairs.

“Wanna let the grownups handle this?” Victor asked Bart.

“Come on, man, I know you were at my 21st, so don't pull that kid crap with me.”

Victor muttered something that Lex could see by Clark's expression wasn't very complimentary. 

“Everyone will have parts,” Oliver said, obviously trying to smooth things over. “Lex and I will buy the costumes and props and scenery. We'll do it her-” he stopped when Chloe opened her mouth, “-we'll do it at the mansion.” 

He shot Lex an apologetic glance which Lex received, knowing it really was the only thing Oliver could have done. 

“A word in private, Mr. Investor?” Chloe said and Oliver practically bounded beside her off to the side while Lex inwardly held his breath. 

This really was the crucial moment. He stepped close to Clark and motioned with his head toward the pair.

Clark gave him a disapproving look and Lex restrained himself from shaking him.

“I'll be the first to say your hyped up morals are a benefit, Clark, but now is not the time.”

Clark pursed his lips, but tilted his head toward Chloe and Oliver and started whispering everything he overheard.

“Most of the time I'm fine with the little bromance the three of you have going on,” Chloe said, “but when you start involving the team, Watchtower, and my wife time, I'm going to get snippy.”

“We'll still have husband and wife time,” Oliver said. “This is for our husband and wife time.”

“I know it was my doing, but I'm going to go ahead and put a ban on the saying 'husband and wife time,' okay?”

“Probably best,” he agreed.

“I'm just skeptical about how much time we'll actually spend together,” Chloe said.

“You could be my leading lady,” Oliver said, sliding closer and to the back of her, so that he was breathing down her neck. 

Chloe's head arched back and Oliver used the opportunity to get access to her neck.

“He's not playing fair, is he?” Lex observed with a smile.

“It's his only option,” Clark replied, obviously trying to keep listening and not watch at the same time. 

“If you're going to play the title part, Oliver, you'll be in practically every scene; you'll be everyone's leading man.”

“But there's only one person I'll be kissing,” he said, putting his arm around her waist.

“Sex is not the answer, Ollie.” 

Lex could see she was weakening. Despite the very real danger of Chloe pulling the plug on the whole thing, he knew that she was just as susceptible to Oliver's charm as the rest of the world. Even more so really. They were each wrapped around the other's finger.

“But it is a bonus,” Oliver whispered. 

“Well, I've actually always liked the idea of us being that particular pair.” Chloe turned to face him.

“Hmmm, I wonder why?” He threaded his fingers through her hair.

“No talking out of turn now,” she admonished him, reaching up for a kiss.

“So, we're acting folk now?”

“Should evil allow,” she conceded.

He grinned and kissed her again, this time lasting so long even Lex felt uncomfortable.

“Break it up,” AC told them from across the room. “We can already guess the play's now the thing.”

Lex's eyebrows rose, he wouldn't have pegged AC for a Shakespeare aficionado. 

Dinah folded her arms grumpily.

“One sappy love scene and I'm out of here.”

“Okay,” Oliver said, bouncing more than Bart on his way back to join the group, “everyone go home, get whatever you need for an extended stay in Metropolis, clear all schedules, fight all crime, and be back here by tomorrow night for casting. Lex and I will get everything ready.”

“I'm going to regret this,” Chloe said to herself and Lex chuckled.

“Maybe all of us will, Mrs. Queen, but we'll have fun doing it.”

She looked wryly at him, but didn't disagree. 

Lex looked around him, noting Bart and Victor arguing over who was the better actor on missions that required such things, AC picking up the copy of the play Oliver had brought with him, and Tess trying to edge out the door.

“Oh, no you don't, Lutessa,” he said, keeping her from leaving.

Tess sighed before she turned to face him.

“And what would I do, _Alexander_?”

“I've the perfect role in mind for you,” he said, grinning, “and Luthors never shirk their duty.”

“I'd be careful if I were you, Lex,” she said pointedly, “of trying to reel me in with the Luthor name. It's still hard to claim it as my own.”

“Hey, you can be a Mercer. With Oliver still calling you Mercy up and down the conference room table, it'd be pretty hard not to be.”

She smiled slightly.

“So, just one little thing I was wondering?” she asked.

“What's that, sis?”

“Who are we putting this play on for exactly?”

Lex paused, he hadn't really thought about that. Most likely Oliver hadn't either.

“Well...”

***

Oliver was practically pacing in his desire to get everything started. He and Lex had canceled everything but the bare essentials that would keep Queen Industries and LuthorCorp running and keep Lex from getting kicked off his own board. Tess had graciously offered to run interference. Oliver had had to do a bit of that himself to keep Lex from backing out by making up lots of excuses for him and Lex to need to be meeting together and getting all board members involved to buy it. But it was worth it. Tess would let them both know if anything too urgent came up and their companies could get along without their CEOs for a few months. As for the League, well, Oliver had put Watchtower to work spreading the requests for extra backup among the superhero community. They worked hard to protect the world without fail year round; they were all due a break.

Lex walked back into his study, drinks in hand.

“Calm down, Oliver. They'll get here soon enough.”

“What if the plane was late?” Oliver asked.

“It's your jet, it'll be fine,” Lex assured him.

“What if they all back out?”

“We'll freeze their funds and they'll come running.”

“Sometimes I like the way you think.” Oliver grinned at Lex.

“Only sometimes?” Lex queried.

“When you're not bent on destroying the world, you're quite the genius.” Oliver said.

“I thought that was when I was being a genius,” Lex said, with only a hint of bitterness in his tone.

Oliver clinked his drink to Lex's.

“No, you're on the right track now.”

“This is the way it should be,” Lex agreed. “Admittedly, it's a lot less sneaky.”

“You'll survive,” Oliver said, distracted again by his paranoia. 

Lex sighed and placated him again.

“Mia will get here, the others won't back out. Try to relax.”

Oliver nodded and let Lex work on his laptop uninterrupted while he had his own quiet panic attack. He figured he was allowed as this whole thing was his baby.

He and Lex had dragged Chloe, Lois, and Clark back to the mansion when everyone else had left the 'emergency meeting,' even as Chloe lectured him on proper use of the term emergency, and started getting everything ready. Clark had kept leaving to go save the world, and by one am, the girls had zonked out on the couch, leaving Oliver and Lex making all the decisions.

Which everyone else was probably going to regret when they found out the casting decisions. Oliver and Lex had almost come to blows about some of them. Lex had sulked about type-casting and threatened to give up the idea. Oliver had won him over with charm and flattery, reminding him that he already knew the part and that no one could play it like him.

Now, all that was left was to convince everyone else and he could panic about that if he wanted to no matter how much Lex teased him about it.

There was a knock at the door and Oliver hastened to open it. 

Mia stuck her head in the door, obviously unsure.

“Right mansion?”

“Right mansion,” Oliver said, enveloping her in a hug. 

She returned it gingerly.

“I can't believe you got me out of school for a play. You do know we do those at school already, right?”

“Enjoy your opportunity and the ridiculous strings I pulled for no real reason,” Oliver told her.

“Oh, I'm enjoying. I'm just kinda surprised by this whole acting bug,” she said, looking around.

“It's not every day I get to dress up and be someone else.” She just looked at him and then he laughed. “Okay, it is every day, but that's more like dressing up and being myself.”

“And how is this play any different really?”

“You'll see,” he said mysteriously, leading her over to the couch where Lex had stood to greet her.

“Mia, you're looking well.”

“Thanks for having me,” she said.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice. I'm afraid when Oliver gets an idea he isn't that subtle about getting it done as fast as possible,” Lex gestured at Oliver as he spoke.

“I figure, why wait? I've wasted half of my life, I'm gonna do good things with the rest,” Oliver protested.

“Like putting on plays with your friends that no one will ever see and spending a ridiculous amount of money?” Lex queried, deadpan.

Oliver shoved him slightly and turned his attention back to pacing. Sure, the lack of an audience was a bit disconcerting, but they were only doing this for themselves and the lack of critics around would probably be more of an incentive for the most stage shy among them.

Bart breezed into the room and five seconds later, so did Clark. Lex did the customary grabbing for papers to no avail and cursed as he bent to pick them up.

“Too slow, my man,” Bart said, laughing.

“You had to throw that trashcan in my way,” Clark scolded him.

“It wouldn't have made a dent and you know it,” Bart said lightly.

“I imagine Lois will be really happy to know you were racing instead of saving people,” Lex said, finally straightening up.

“Lois!” Clark said, turning bright red and whooshing past Chloe on her way in.

“Clark forget Lois again?” she asked, making her way to Oliver's side. 

He relaxed visibly when she wrapped her arms around him. With her there, he could do anything, even put on a play with a bunch of dysfunctional superheroes.

“I guess so.”

There was another whooshing sound and Clark came back with Lois in his arms, a half eaten donut in her hand.

“Keep that up, Clark,” she said, “and you're going to be wearing the other half of this.”

“Sorry,” he said, putting her down and pecking her on the cheek.

“You're forgiven,” she said, “but only because I'm curious to see what these idiots actually came up with.”

“You mean while you were snoring on the couch and keeping us from concentrating?” Oliver teased her.

“Watch it, Queen,” she said.

Oliver simply smirked at her and rested his chin on Chloe's head. Lois muttered to herself and plopped down on the couch next to Mia. 

“Oh, Mia,” Chloe said, detaching herself from Oliver, causing him to frown, “I'm so glad you made it in time. How was the flight?”

“Jet-like,” Mia said.

“You could've said the word and I would've had you here in seconds,” Bart said, flinging a companion-ly arm around her shoulder as he sat next to her.

Oliver cleared his throat in warning, all dad censors on high alert. Bart removed his arm, but flashed him an unrepentant grin. Chloe rolled her eyes at Oliver and he blew her a kiss upon which she did it again.

AC and Dinah showed up with Victor in tow and Oliver nearly made a dive for the notes he and Lex had compiled.

“Tess is gonna be late,” he said, “so we'll just start.”

“This better be good,” Dinah grumbled, sitting down on the couch, “and not just an opportunity for you to practice shooting.”

“I promise goodness,” Oliver said recklessly. 

Chloe shot him a look and he gave himself an inward nudge to tone it down. He didn't want them all flying for cover when his natural exuberance went into overdrive.

“So, there were just the right number of parts,” Lex said, passing out scripts.

“Says you,” Lois scoffed. “Do you know how many women there are in Robin Hood? I'm thinking of picketing outside with feminism brochures.”

“Which will be of lasting political and societal impact, I'm sure,” Lex said.

“We know there's not a lot of female roles,” Oliver interceded before a throw down occurred, “but we've got a few roles we think will suffice. So, Lois, you'll be Clorinda, shepherdess, and now handmaiden, to one Maid Marian.”

“That's the skimpiest role ever,” Lois said, “there's nothing to it.”

“It's an important role, Lo,” Chloe said, obviously trying to pacify her irate cousin.

“It's fish bait,” Lois said, but didn't say anything else, flipping through the pages of her script furiously.

“Bart, you'll be Much the Miller's Son.”

Bart snatched his script and Oliver blinked because the other man was on the other side of the room having just finished reading it.  
“For the last time, people, I'm actually an adult,” Bart snapped at them.

“That wasn't why,” Lex protested. “It was a personality thing, deal with it.”

Oliver hastily turned to Victor.

“How does Friar Tuck sound?”

“Boring,” Victor replied.

“He could fight,” Oliver tempted. 

“We'll see.” Victor quirked an eyebrow.

Oliver sighed and turned to AC and Dinah.

“Now...just hear me out. AC, you're Alan a Dale and, Dinah, you're his wife.”

“Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Dinah said, reading the script. AC turned bright red and looked at his own. “He has to rescue her!” Dinah said angrily. “This is the worst play ever.”

“We can negotiate,” Oliver said. 

He'd known that would have to be done.

“And just who is the illustrious Robin Hood?” Dinah asked. “As if we couldn't guess.”

“It...makes sense,” Oliver said, wounded. “And so does making Chloe Maid Marian.”

“At least you aren't being told you have to be the villain...again,” Lex, or Prince John, stated.

“Moving on...” Oliver said before Lex could start up that old argument. “Mia, how do you feel about playing Will Scarlet?”

“A guy?”

“He matches your uniform and he's got pretty good aim,” Oliver tempted.

“For you only.” Mia smiled wryly at him.

“That's my girl,” he said proudly.

“I'm going to be sick,” Dinah said, not even looking up from her script.

“What am I going to be?” Clark asked, his tone suggesting he'd been forgotten.

“Little John, who else?” Chloe said, patting his arm.

“So...then the only other part-” Oliver was interrupted by Tess coming in. “Ah, perfect timing there, Mercy. Wanna know who you got?”

“I can make a wild guess,” she said flatly, pouring herself a scotch.

“It's so very type-casting,” Lex muttered in the background.

“It was your idea!” Oliver said.

“I'm talking about me,” Lex said.

“Oh, well, anyway...Tess, you're gonna be the Sheriff.”

“Go Nottingham,” she said, still expressionless.

“Don't be like that, guys,” Oliver pleaded. “Just think about it. It's going to be awesome.”

Looking around at the group, Oliver studied each of their faces. He knew each of them better than anyone else in his whole life. 

Lois was studying her part with a devious glint in her eye that made Oliver nervous. She'd obviously thought of some way of getting back at him for giving her such a paltry role.

Clark was looking quite panicked, probably at the thought of having to learn so many lines. He was also probably going to try to back out at many points.

Bart was amusing himself by reading the script over and over, faster than any of them could read it once. The little imp probably already had his part memorized and was planning ways to annoy them all in lieu of actual rehearsing.

Victor was analyzing the script, most likely using his internal databases to review everything anyone had ever written on Robin Hood. Oliver thought he was probably doing a million other things at the same time. The man could multi-task like no other.

AC was reading and sneaking looks at Dinah when he thought she wasn't looking. His face got redder and redder and he was most likely contemplating ways to get arrested for some activist rally so he wouldn't have to participate. Oliver made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

Dinah was silently seething, casting glares at anyone who looked at her, except Lois, and Oliver looked between the two uneasily. They didn't get along usually, so when they agreed on something, he'd learned to be afraid.

Mia's eyebrows were nearly popping off her head while she read, but she was grinning and laughing with Chloe and Oliver figured the only thing she cared about was that she was out of school.

Lex was making a good show of being annoyed, but Oliver could see him restraining himself from being happy about stretching his sinister muscles and being a villain. So long as Lex only played at villainy and Oliver got to keep his friend, he could handle that.

Tess was brooding and Oliver decided to make it up to her somehow, but he and Lex had really wanted to include her and he hoped she knew that somewhere underneath the resentment.

Chloe was indulging him. She knew he was being crazy and abusing his money and privilege and power for no good reason and she was letting him because she understood the desire behind it. And that was why he loved her. She looked up at him and winked before going back to speaking with Mia. 

No one had physically fought, no one had left. All in all, a good casting call.


	2. The Planning

Clark was late to the first rehearsal. It wasn't his fault though and he made sure to acquaint everyone of that fact. There was a wildfire in Texas and it had destroyed almost a third of the state. He arrived, putting out fires on his cape.

“Change, Clark,” Chloe said, waving her hand around her face. “None of us want to get admitted for smoke inhalation.”

“Right. Sorry.” 

Clark had been in a hurry and it still surprised him how relaxed he could be around people who knew both his identities.

“Come on, people, we've wasted enough time as it is,” Oliver called frantically.

Clark was back two seconds later. All of them kept spare changes of clothes practically everywhere they frequented.

“Clark, where is Lois?” Lex asked, elbowing him. “Oliver's about ready to have a conniption.”

“She said she'd be here this morning,” Clark said, shrugging. “I don't know why he's upset about me being late if not everyone's here.”

“This is Oliver we're talking about,” Lex reminded him.

Clark sighed. Yes, he knew.

Lois strolled into the room with Dinah a few minutes later and dumped a huge pile of papers on the table.

“Ladies,” Oliver said, “what's going on?”

“This, gentlemen,” Lois said, “is our new script. Don't worry; everything's the way it should be.”

“Then why is it new?” Oliver asked with such a high pitch to his voice Clark had to wonder if he was going to break it somehow.

“You didn't honestly expect us to just sit back and take being the background, token females, did you?” Dinah asked. “We added a few pertinent points.”

Oliver's eyes got very wide and Clark and Lex chuckled to themselves. Not surprisingly, it was Chloe who rubbed a soothing arm on his shoulders and attempted to make peace.

“Let's just read it, Ollie. Maybe it's good.”

“Maybe!” squawked Lois. “Cuz, you've been Mrs. Queen for too long. Step on over into the girl's camp.”

“There are no camps,” Chloe said firmly, “we're all a team.”

“Yeah right,” Dinah said under her breath, but Clark heard it anyway. 

He wondered again if everyone just chose to forget about his hearing or if they did it deliberately knowing how uncomfortable it made him.

Bart grabbed a script and read it on the way back to his seat.

“Awesome additions, you lovelies. I especially like the part where AC's hanging upside down and Dinah saves his ass. Then Lois storms the castle-”

Oliver's sputters drowned out Bart's summary, but Clark heard other noises and vanished. He didn't think anyone would really notice he was gone. There was a woman fighting off two men and a woman in an alley and he made short work of them. When he got back to the mansion, Oliver and Lois were standing toe to toe yelling at each other and he winced.

“At least you can run,” Lex said dryly to him.

“There were people in trouble,” Clark protested.

“Aren't there always?”

“Good point,” Clark said and desperately listened. 

Yup, sounds of distress. He vanished again and again and again. It took three rescues and returns before it appeared that everything had been settled; Lois and Dinah satisfied that their roles were not too pithy and Oliver satisfied that the story's integrity was being upheld. But at that point he showed his true dictator-like qualities and put them all to work finding marks and staging and those not in scenes, learning lines or putting together scenery. It was a long day.

At about the fifth hour mark, Clark was using his heat vision to weld together poles to hold up the curtains and was actually starting to wonder why Oliver and Lex didn't just hire someone to do it. At that point he was glad to have a five car pileup.

When he got back he discovered that there had been a mutiny and Oliver displaced from the director position with Chloe now in charge. 

He heaved a sigh of relief and turned to face Lois.

“Uh uh, you're not getting away, Clark. What happened to all the quality time we were supposed to have? You've vamoosed at least eight times today. I even rewrote the script so Clorinda's in the stupid band of merry men and can have more scenes with you.”

“I thought it was a cry for equality for women everywhere.”

“Don't get smart with me; you're still the one with explaining to do,” she said, tapping her foot.

“I'm sorry, Lois. It just hasn't been easy with the whole play thing and my responsibilities as Superman. And there have been times when it's been not very fun to be here.”

“So you just leave and let the rest of us suffer? How heroic of you. Besides, if you wanted to get out of here, I can think of a lot of places in this mansion we could get lost.”

Clark looked at her hopefully, but just then Chloe called them both to the rehearsing area. The day got a lot better after that, Oliver pouting for only about an hour longer before Chloe's constant physical attention cheered him up and he started over-acting with gusto. 

Clark looked around him, shaking his head. It looked like Oliver and Mia were simply using the time to practice their marksmanship, Bart was busy bothering Victor, AC and Dinah were going over their lines together and actually getting along, Tess was on her laptop, steadfastly refusing to get fitted for the beard Lois was trying to get her to wear while Chloe and Lex argued over the finer points of how evil Prince John actually was. They might not be the greatest acting troupe in the world, but he wouldn't want them to be anyone else.

***

Lex had thought that the next rehearsal would go a lot better without Oliver yelling at everyone, but when they all again gathered in his house, he discovered that they'd forgotten what a micro-manager Chloe could be. 

“I'm Watchtower, what did you expect?” she asked as they all groaned, looking at their rehearsal packets. Packets, mind, not just sheets.

Lex looked over his and discovered she had scheduled everything, down to bathroom breaks, when the bolts would be put into the stage, and just when Clark was allowed to leave to save people. To give her credit, it was incredibly organized and made sure to address everyone's concerns, but Lex knew there was no way such order would last in the midst of their chaos.

And it didn't. Things got heated when Tess and Dinah went up against each other in a scene and Tess got the upper hand. Chloe had to call an emergency timeout. Clark had used the opportunity to leave, but wasn't back until an hour later due to an armed bank robbery, earthquake, and bridge collapsing. Chloe had been bright red at that point, though she was already putting more plans together on the fly, which was very impressive considering.

A couple of hours later after she'd had to calm an irate Oliver down when Bart and Mia had been getting a bit too friendly, Lex noticed Chloe curling her hands into fists so hard they were leaving fingernail marks, and went to speak with Oliver.

“We're going to make your wife cry.”

“What?” Oliver looked around frantically. 

Lex put a calming hand on his shoulder. 

“Stop freaking out. Your overreacting is one of the things making her stressed. You're just going to have to talk to her. She should know better than anyone that you can't plan things so much. Especially with these people. We want this to be fun, remember?”

“Right,” Oliver said, visibly quieting, “right, you're right.”

“What a surprise,” Lex said dryly.

“Did I ever tell you how annoying you are?” Oliver asked.

“Frequently and then again.”

“Remind me to do it more often.”

“Oliver, tell me how annoying I am.”

“You're annoying, Lex.”

Oliver strode off to find his wife and Lex chuckled to himself before going back to using his allotted ten minutes to himself to try and make sense of the emails his board members were sending him.

Oliver and Chloe moved over to his side of the room, probably trying to get away from the others and obviously not seeing him behind his desk.

“-all I'm saying is that I don't want you stressed out. This was my thing and I don't want you to freak out over it.”

“Freak outs are a daily part of my life, Ollie,” she told him. “I'll deal.”

“Like you did when Tess suggested she might want to use the restroom at some point other than her allotted time period?”

“Point taken, O Technical One. Just...leave it to me.”

“You're my favorite over-doer, you know that?” Oliver smiled and touched his nose to hers.

“I better be.”

“Never be another,” Oliver assured her.

“I'm very glad to hear it,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Lex decided now would be a great time to clear his throat.

“Hell, Luthor, why now?” Oliver complained.

“Cause I don't want a free show,” Lex said. 

“I highly doubt that.” Oliver smiled.

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

“Down, boys. Lex, I believe your ten minutes is up. Get back to work.”

Lex ground his teeth together and wondered if, because it was his house, he could call in a bomb threat.

The afternoon only got more hectic from there. Chloe's plans were rapidly dissolving and while she wasn't stressing out as much, everyone else was until Oliver secretly staged a coup and got put back in charge by promising not to yell at everyone anymore. How long that would last, Lex couldn't say, but he was willing to bet not very long. He also wondered how many director changes they would have before the big night.

***

Oliver reflected that the following few weeks were the best and worst of his life. In between the chaos, the fights over staging, the way Clark couldn't remember his lines because he didn't have time to practice them, Oliver's own irritation with Bart's continual flirting with his wife, his ward, and his ex-girlfriends, the constant directorial changes between him and Chloe, him and Tess, and Lois at one point, before everyone bit the bullet and appointed Victor unequivocally; there was fun. There was enjoyment and unity and a bit of wacky silliness.

Victor proved to be the perfect director because he wasn't hyper-sensitive to making everything perfect like Oliver, didn't over-plan like Chloe, actually cared unlike Tess, and wasn't a harpy in disguise like Lois. He managed to smooth everything over while keeping everything on track and Oliver's only regret was that it didn't happen until the week before opening. Granted, that was an important week.

It was dress rehearsal time and there'd been a mix-up with the costumes and Lois and Dinah were currently harassing the poor delivery guy who'd sent theirs to the wrong place. It was unfortunate, but Oliver pitied any acting production that didn't have a couple of speedsters to fix situations like this. In less than ten seconds, Bart had run to New York and gotten their costumes and earned himself some not-to-be-killed-for-flirting points. 

“Okay, people,” Victor said, “we've got limited time to pull this off, so I want everyone who's not on stage finishing the set or making sure the costumes and makeup are good. Got it?”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Bart said, snapping a quick salute and zipping back in two seconds, already dressed.

Oliver shifted uncomfortably because he was, unfortunately, actually wearing tights. At one point he and Lex had argued for a solid ten minutes about why Oliver couldn't just wear his Green Arrow gear. Lex had pointed out that Oliver was the one who'd wanted this to be authentic and he'd reluctantly capitulated and given Lex another check in the win column. 

Oliver made his way on stage. Chloe had had a point earlier; he was in practically every scene. They were at the spot of the archery tournament, so almost everyone was on stage in some capacity.

“Fear not, fair lady,” he started, but there was a loud creaking sound and the stage roof started to sway and Oliver's eyes widened when he saw the bolts break. He threw himself across Chloe's body and yelled for everyone to get down.

Wind rushed past his cheek and he saw Bart speed Mia off the stage and started to revise his opinion of letting Bart anywhere near her. He had a moment of regret that that would be his last thought but the crushing blindness never came. Clark, for once, was not out helping someone else and had caught the steel frame before it started to fall and everyone cleared off the stage in a hurry before he set it down.

“I knew this whole thing was a big mistake,” Lois said, staring.

“Don't start, Lois,” Chloe said firmly. 

“Now can we give up this ridiculous charade?” Tess folded her arms across her chest.

“I don't think so,” Oliver said, stepping forward and cutting quite a dashing figure in his costume, despite the tights, if he did say so himself. “People, this is a call to battle. We've an opportunity here to do something against the odds, a chance for greatness. Should we give it up because of a little obstacle, a few challenges? I don't think so. No, we need to push forward, we need to take charge. We need to put on a play.”

There was a brief silence before Clark and Lex started laughing and Oliver stared at them, a little put-out.

“Um, honey,” Chloe asked, obviously struggling to keep her own laughter in check, “did you practice that?”

“No,” he protested, “that was all from the heart.”

“Well, kudos on the inspirational speech, dude,” AC said, “but it wasn't like we were about to go into battle against a supervillain. We'll just get it replaced.”

“Fine,” Oliver said grumpily and adjusted his tights as discretely as possible before going off to find some place that could hand deliver them a stage before tomorrow night. Despite his pride being hurt, he was feeling excited.

Chloe followed him and put a hand on his arm.

“You feeling okay there, Robin?”

“Never better, my lady,” he told her.

“Thanks for the dive and save back there,” she told him. “I'm beginning to see the perks of being married to a superhero.”

“I already knew those perks,” he told her, winking. “Besides, that was nothing.”

“Well, just so you know,” she told him, “Watchtower promises to be very appreciative to Green Arrow tonight.”

Oliver wished he didn't have to stay and practice this stupid play. Whose bright idea had that been?


	3. The Production

Clark was feeling nervous. Despite all his many powers, he usually was for one reason or another. Whether it was the first day of high school, coming to work at the Daily Planet, telling someone he loved his secret, or putting on a play, he was always nervous. Plus, the costume he was wearing was incredibly uncomfortable. Despite the constant teasing from his friends and teammates, his own Superman outfit was a hundred times easier to wear than this tunic/tights ensemble. He spared a brief thought wishing that Excelsior had thought to put on a different play and not encouraged Oliver's Robin Hood obsession, but upon further reflection, he guessed it was a very good thing that Oliver had been inspired in that direction or there was a very good chance all of them would have been dead at one point or another. 

All of these thoughts were simply a way to avoid actually walking out of the dressing rooms Lex had set up and he knew it, so he took a deep breath and headed out to the theater area.

“ _Little_ John he ain't,” Lois said upon seeing him and Clark flushed.

“Lois, not here,” he said, looking around quickly to see if anyone else had heard. 

Dinah and AC were flashing him knowing grins and Clark grimaced. Superman he may be, but Clark Kent was quite susceptible to teasing.

“Stop getting all cute and red,” Lois said, “and come help me zip up this dress. I swear, it's a wonder women ever used to get out of bed in the morning. Oh, maybe it was because they had to cater to man's every whim.”

“You look beautiful,” he told her sincerely and she smiled just as sincerely back at him. 

“Now go shoo,” she told him. “The softer side of Lois is not the side that needs to be on center stage at the moment.”

Clark nodded and headed for the other side of the stage, frantically mumbling lines under his breath, calming himself with the thought that at least there really wasn't anyone there to see him mess up. He peeked his head out of the curtains just to be sure and his heart nearly stopped.

There were chairs set up in front of the stage and his mother was sitting in the front row. Right next to her was Lana and Perry and Jimmy and Pete. Close by sat Emil, Courtney, Zatanna, Kara, Mera, and J'onn.

Clark started sputtering and felt Chloe's hand on his arm.

“Calm yourself there, Clark. I don't think it'd be good for Little John to have a panic attack on opening night.”

“What are they doing here? No one was supposed to see. Chloe, I don't know any of my lines!”

“I'm sorry,” she said, “I should've told you before. I didn't want you to invent some disaster so you wouldn't have to come.”

“Chloe!” he practically wailed.

“I knew how much this meant to Ollie,” Chloe told him unapologetically, “and I wanted it to be something he could remember so I made a few calls. Just try to pull out that Superman charm and remember how good you actually are at wearing a disguise and playing a part. But do not mess this up for him!”

Clark gulped and nodded, not knowing if he felt better or worse.

Chloe's face softened and she smiled at him.

“You'll do great. Break a leg, use kryptonite if necessary.”

“Very funny,” he called after her. 

She simply waved a hand backward in response and Clark went to go find Lex.

“Don't say anything, Clark, I know how you feel,” Lex said, adjusting his own costume. Clark figured that would probably be the theme of the night for everyone. The sizes weren't perfect either. “Chloe made the call without telling anyone. I'd rather not have anybody else witness this experience either, but it doesn't look like we're going to have a choice.”

“If you had simply shot him down...”

Lex stopped fiddling with his costume and looked him in the eye.

“Tell me honestly that this has been the worst experience of your life that didn't involve lives being in danger and defeating evil aliens.”

“I can't and you know it,” Clark said. “You're not playing fair.”

“When do I ever?” Lex replied calmly. “Clark, this is fun, so don't worry so much. Just do your part.”

“Okay, okay,” Clark said, trying to breathe normally, “I can do this.”

“You are the Traveler,” Lex said, smiling that one smile that Clark didn't actually like.

“And I trusted you,” he returned.

Then Lex did smile genuinely.

“And I trust you not to screw this up.”

Clark nodded and took his place, somehow feeling reassured. 

A frantic looking Oliver came running through the wings.

“Places, places!”

Victor put a hand out and yanked him back.

“I'm the director, Queen. Five minutes, everyone. Places.”

Oliver shot him a look, but Clark didn't have time to worry about that now. He forced himself not to listen for distress calls and got to his mark.

The curtain went up.

***

If any reviews of the play had been put up, Lex was pretty sure they would have blistered the performance of every single person on the stage. On the other hand, the entire thing was a disaster for reasons other than bad acting. Wherever the costumes had come from or gone, something had gotten into them and everyone was extremely uncomfortable which made for interesting action sequences. The set still swayed somewhat dangerously from time to time making it difficult to concentrate on anything other than when one was supposed to dive for one's life. Bart's hyper-activity complex had kicked in, making him somewhat blurry around the edges at all times. Lois and Dinah were getting a little too much into their roles and improv-ing quite a few lines that weren't really appropriate to Ye Olde England times. 

There was one major distress call in the second act that called for Clark's intervention and he'd reappeared within seconds of leaving stating that he needed AC's help. They'd put the play on hold for twenty minutes and then an additional ten when the two men had gotten back since their costumes had to be gotten back into. AC made his next scene debut with dripping wet hair, but that probably wasn't a shock to anyone who knew him.

But, as it was, Lex had never had so much fun in his life and that included the first play. From the beginning their audience had shown them no mercy, making the entire thing look like an episode of _Mystery Science Theater 3000_. Zatanna had started it, no surprise there, with a ridiculously loud stage whisper to Courtney about Oliver's tights. The difference between _Mystery Science Theater_ and the Justice League's production of _Robin Hood_ was that the Justice League could talk back. Both Chloe and Oliver had whipped their heads around so fast that it was surprising nothing had been damaged. Then Chloe had smiled a quiet little smile that Lex inherently distrusted and whispered something in Oliver's ear and laughed low in her throat in a fashion that was not appropriate for _Maid_ Marian to have done.

“Challenge accepted,” Oliver had said and Lex knew, because he'd been stuck listening to the script for the last few weeks, that it wasn't just his next line.

They were currently in the final scene and Lex was feeling adrenaline charged. He and Tess were back to back facing the whole band of merry men and the catcalls from the audience were becoming louder.

“You shall trouble this land no longer,” Oliver cried impressively.

“Now if only you would stop troubling it we could all go home,” Pete called out.

“Now that I have saved this land,” Oliver said with a glare, “we shall wipe out all annoying troublemakers from the earth. And I know just where to start.”

“So do I,” Courtney said, half-heartedly Lex thought. The girl wasn't that great at insults.

“This is for the hurt you did my love,” Oliver said, jabbing his sword into Tess' side. 

She fell to the ground and looked up at him.

“If only it were more.” She did an impressive death rattle and was still.

“This is for the death of my father,” Oliver said, turning to Lex and preparing to vanquish him, too.

“Just kill him already,” said Emil.

Oliver moved his hand back in slow motion and brought it down with agonizing slowness so that it felt like even Lex would have had time to grow a full head of hair in the time it took for him to get stabbed. But in the spirit of cooperation and solidarity Lex took his time about falling to the ground and thrashing around a bit.

From that vantage point he could just rest and listen to the rest of the play where Friar Tuck married Robin and Marian to the accompanying inappropriate comments from Zatanna and they all lived happily ever after.

The entire cast lined up for the curtain call and their peanut gallery audience gave them a standing ovation with cheers and whistling. Lex looked down the line of his fellow performers. Everyone was smiling and had sweaty, makeup-smeared faces. 

Lex stepped forward. Oliver had asked him to say a few words because he was technically the host of the evening.

“Thank you all for coming and behaving so well. I'm floored by your manners and have never seen such lady and gentleman-like behavior. We're honored that you chose to see our production of _Robin Hood_. I'd just like to take this time to say thank you to Oliver Queen for his resounding performance and for financing everything. A round of applause for Oliver, please.”

There was a big round of applause and Oliver took a bow and stepped forward. 

“We'd also like to thank Lex for housing tonight's performance and footing at least half of the bill.”

Lex grimaced slightly but shook Oliver's hand, squeezing it as tightly as he could and bowing while he received his own applause. He straightened up and continued speaking.

“Now, we'd just like to acknowledge our director without whom we'd have been lost. Victor Stone, please step forward.”

Victor stepped forward hesitantly and Lex repressed his grin. He and Oliver had been planning this ever since Victor had been voted in permanently as director.

Chloe and Clark carried out the biggest bouquet of flowers they'd been able to find and presented it to Victor who, with all his strength, still staggered under the weight of it.

“With all our love and gratitude,” Oliver said, grinning.

Lex could have almost sworn he saw a small tear glistening in the eye of the half-human, half-robot man he’d helped to create.

“Thanks,” was all Victor said. 

Lex, Oliver, Clark, Chloe, and Victor were still standing at the front when there was a yell from behind them and they were hit with a massive group hug from the rest of the team. Even Tess. At that moment, any sense of propriety didn't matter anymore and Lex let himself be hugged and then begged off, considering how hot and sweaty he already was.

“We're all going to change,” he shouted over the noise to their guests. “Please avail yourself of the refreshments provided and we'll join you shortly. Thank you.”

Oliver nudged him as they walked back to the dressing rooms together.

“Best night of your life?”

“No,” said Lex.

“Second best?”

“No.”

“Third best?”

“No.”

“Fourth best?”

“Maybe.”

“At least fifth best?”

Lex turned and smiled at his insane friend.

“Definitely.”


	4. The Post-Event

Oliver stretched and leaned over to brush an errant curl off the face of the sleeping woman in his bed. Chloe had fallen asleep a little while before and he didn’t want to wake her. He was sure she must be tired. After hobnobbing with all of their guests, taking much more of a ribbing, even signing an autograph for a straight-faced Emil, and cleaning up a bit at the mansion, they’d come home and gone straight to bed. Straight to sleep was another thing entirely. Grinning quietly to himself, he dressed silently and headed out the window, swinging from building to building until he reached Watchtower.

“It’s about time, Oliver,” Lex said from out of the shadows. “What took you so long? Wait, let me guess, a petite blonde needed your help with something?”

“More like the other way around,” Oliver said with a smirk. “Come on, Lex, I’m sure you and Lana reunited in an…exuberant fashion.”

“Yet here I am, on time.”

There was a swoosh and then Clark was standing in front of them. Both men turned to face the third member of their midnight meeting.

“Ah, you made it,” Oliver said, clapping him on the back.

“I still don’t see why this couldn’t wait till tomorrow,” Clark said, grumbling. “Lois is mad enough at me for running out during the play.”

“She got to kick my ass during the final act, so she can’t be too upset,” Lex said, rubbing his shoulder.

“I don’t think Clorinda’s ever been quite so feisty,” Oliver agreed, “but we love her that way. Now, let’s get going.”

“The things we do for you,” Lex said, sighing. 

Oliver stopped and turned around because it was true.

“Thanks, guys. Not just for tonight, but for the play. I think we all needed that and if it weren’t for you backing me up it wouldn’t have happened. You’re both…the best friends a guy could hope for.”

Clark coughed and turned away.

“Uh, thanks, Oliver. You, you too. You know I feel the same.” 

Lex rolled his eyes.

“Hell, Queen, now you made him get all sentimental. We all know we’re friends, the best, BFF, bromance central, etc. We don’t have to advertise it. And don’t even suggest making this play a yearly event. I’m tired and bruised and not looking forward to tomorrow's board meeting, so can’t we just fight evil already?”

Oliver smiled and flipped his hood up, slipping his glasses on. Chloe had informed him that there had been many minor Justice League matters that she’d put to the side so he could finish the play and he’d asked Clark and Lex to help him at least start putting them right tonight so she could sleep. He figured he owed her that much. With the help of the second fastest man on the planet and his second preferred eye in the sky, he figured it wouldn’t take that long.

“Robin Hood away,” he said cheekily and fired an arrow into the night. 

Behind him Clark vanished and Lex slipped a com link into his ear. Time to go to work.


End file.
